The men in our midst deserve a hearty congratulations, for despite modern-day feminism’s many successes, their grip on Hollywood remains steadfast. A new report reveals that 2014 was another banner year for men in films, with more than three-quarters of starring roles in the top-grossing movies going to dudes. Hip hip, hooray!
The report, compiled by the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at USC, found that popular movies are overwhelmingly white, straight, male, and young. According to the Times:
— The movies are white: 73.1 percent of all the speaking or named characters in the top 100 movies were white.
— The movies are straight: Only 19 total characters were lesbian, gay, or bisexual — none were transgender.
— The movies are young: Only 19.9 percent of female characters were 40 to 64 years old.
— The movies are male: Only 1.9 percent of the movies were directed by women.
As it turns out, in the last seven years the percentage of women in the ten highest-grossing movies who had speaking or named roles tops out at 30.2 percent, meaning men are still totally killing it.
Congratulate a man on his continued success today.
